1. Overview.
Sources of Lead in Drinking Water,
U.S. EPA
reports:
Lead levels in your drinking water are likely to be highest if:
(Y)our home has faucets or fittings of brass which contains some lead, or
(Y)our home or water system has lead pipes, or
(Y)our home has copper pipes with solder, and
(T)he house is less than five years old, or
(Y)ou have naturally soft water, or
(W)ater often sits in the pipes for several hours.

(Source: In Its Entirety from: The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
EPA 810-F-93-001 June 1993, Last updated on Friday, April 25th, 2003
En Espaņol )

i. Lead lines. Over
23,000 of the mains in D.C. are lead lines. WASA can inform you of
whther the city-contolled pipes, or water mains, going to your house are
actually made of lead. The remaining lines are made of copper

ii. Copper
Lines. Even if your water mains are made of copper, you still need to
determine if lead soldering was used to seal the copper pipes, as it was
done routinely until 1985, when the practice began to taper off.
See more on
copper pipes used with lead solder.

(2) Pipes Beginning on
Your Property Line. These pipes connect the waterways going from
from the public water main to your land. These pipes are the
responsibility of the property-owner and WASA indicates that they DO NOT
maintain records regarding the material making up these pipes. You
must determine this from

(a)property
records (b)the builder of the house

(c) the
previous owner (d) an expert such as a plumber

(3) Pipes inside your house
may consist of lead material, with variations within the same home and so it
is advisable, to check each and every sink.

Also, new brass faucets and fittings can also leach lead, even though they
are "lead-free." (From U.S. EPA Actions You Can Take To Reduce Lead in
Drinking Water. Last updated on Friday, April 25th, 2003).

(4)
What do plastic, lead, and copper pipes look like?
Read here.
(Disclaimer: We do not advise scraping or otherwise handling pipes but
suggest that you hire an expert to handle material as scrapings from some
pipes may be hazardous to your health*).

A. Water samples from the tap will have to be
collected and sent to a
qualified laboratory for analysis. Contact your local water utility or your
local health department for information and assistance. In some instances,
these authorities will test your tap water for you, or they can refer you to
a qualified laboratory.

i. You may find a qualified testing company under
'Laboratories" in the yellow pages of your telephone directory. You should
be sure that the lab you use has been approved by your state or by EPA as
being able to analyze drinking water samples for lead contamination. To find
out which labs are qualified, contact your state or local department of the
environment or health.

ii You will need a testing kit (from your local hardware store) to
draw water sample for testing.

A: Arrangements for sample collection will
vary. A few laboratories will
send a trained technician to take the samples; but in most cases, the lab
will provide sample containers along with instructions as to how you should
draw your own tap-water samples. If you collect the samples yourself, make
sure you follow the lab's instructions exactly. Otherwise, the results might
not be reliable. Make sure that the laboratory is following EPA's water
sampling and analysis procedures. Be certain to take a "first draw" and a
"fully flushed" sample.

Flush Your Pipes Before Drinking
Anytime the water in a particular faucet has not been used for six hours or
longer, "flush" your cold-water pipes by running the water until it becomes
as cold as it will get. (This could take as little as five to thirty seconds
if there has been recent heavy water use such as showering or toilet
flushing. Otherwise, it could take two minutes or longer.) The more time
water has been sitting in your home's pipes, the more lead it may contain.

Only Use Cold Water for Consumption
Use only water from the cold-water tap for drinking, cooking, and especially
for making baby formula. Hot water is likely to contain higher levels of
lead.The two actions recommended above are very important to the health of
your family. They will probably be effective in reducing lead levels because
most of the lead in household water usually comes from the plumbing in your
house, not from the local water supply.

Have Your Water Tested
After you have taken the two precautions above for reducing the lead in
water used for drinking or cooking, have your water tested.
The only way to be sure of the amount of lead in your
household water is to have it tested by a competent laboratory. Your water
supplier may be able to offer information or assistance with testing.
Testing is especially important for apartment dwellers, because flushing may
not be effective in high-rise buildings with lead-soldered central piping.
(From, "Actions You Can Take, U.S. EPA)

* Disclaimer. Nothing in the pages of these websites constitutes
professional scientific or technical or medical advice. Consult
appropriate health care and technical experts for advice. We are not
responsible for and deny any responsibility or liability for actions or
assumptions made in connection with the contents of pages on other websites.